All posts by Jesse

Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB

Hard Drive Reviews

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I am reviewing the Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB Solid State Drive which I bought off of Newegg for $156.99. I have been an avid admirer of Samsung products when it came to their televisions and cellphones, so I figured I would try out this SSD for a couple of months. In the elapsed time, I was impressed with the overall performance and speed of the hard drive for its price. $150 may be a little too much for someone interested in building computers, but if they want better overall performance and speed I recommend this SSD until their prices drop.
Samsung products have always been reliable and some of the best. Samsung was founded on March 1, 1938 in Daegu, South Korea by Lee Byung-chul. Samsung started producing Solid State Drives when they partnered with Seagate who was already in the Hard Drive business. Samsung sold its HDD business to Seagate for $1.375 Billion while Samsung decided to produce SSD’s.
I used the GA-970A-D3P AM3+  Motherboard to test this product. I use this motherboard for business and testing purposes so Gaming and home uses may vary for other users.
    Benchmarks:

  • Dimension 2.5″
  • Interface: SATA III
  • Sequential Read: Up to 540 MBps
  • Sequential Write: Up to 520 MBps
  • 4k Random Read: Up to 98,000 IOPS
  • 4k Random Write: Up to 90,000 IOPS
  • MTBF: 2,000,000 hours
  • 3 Bit MLC
  • 3 Year Warranty
  • 3D NAND

The overall performance of this SSD left me highly satisfied by booting my computer and other programs almost 3x faster than a traditional HDD. The installation was easy since the drive is fairly small and connects with SATA ports. The read and write speeds allowed my applications to load and run faster, and opening multiple tabs and programs was no problem when switching between them. The only real complaint I have is the price for the capacity. Traditional hard drives could store a lot more for a lot less but if you are a speed freak, then you’ll have to sacrifice a bit of your cash. Samsung has a brand loyalty to it’s name simply for the fact that there a really big company. This means that the price will be higher than most market demand, so you can find SSD’s for cheaper prices most likely. If you want durability though, the Samsung EVO lasts pretty long despite not having a lot of storage.
“One of the best things about Samsung’s drives is their reliability and warranty.”- Lifewire
“Its blistering speeds, five-year guarantee and best-in-class endurance rating, it’s sat near the top of most best SSD lists ever since it first came out .” -RockPaperShotgun
References:
Reviews: LifeWire, RockPaperShotgun
SSD: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?
Motherboard: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?
Samsung: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung
Note:  This review is part of a classroom project.
 
 
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CORSAIR Vengeance LPX Review

Memory Reviews

<![CDATA[Corsair has been a memory manufacture since 1994 and has produced some of the top line peripherals for computers. The company’s headquarters is located in Fremont, California and has a recorder number of around 800 employees in 2012. I will be reviewing one of their products: The Vengeance LPX RAM.

This is a fast RAM designed for the GIGABYTE GA-AB350-GAMING 3 motherboard and similar motherboards. The specifications of this motherboard requires 4×288pin DDR4 2667* / 2400 / 2133. The memory we are reviewing has a speed of 2667* since it’s the maximum speed this motherboard can handle. I found the memory when scrolling through TomsHardware and seen its overclocking capabilities and lower cost.
 
Specifications:

  • Generation: DDR4
  • Storage: (2x8GB)
  • Speed: 2666MH/z
  • 288 PIN SDRAM
  • CAS Latency: 16 (72ns)
  • Timing: 16-18-18-35
  • Voltage: 1.5 V
  • Non-ECC
  • Bandwidth: 14,888 MB/s (Passmark)
  • Supports Dual Channel

 
The Corsair Vengeance LPX did exactly what it was advertised to. Its overclocking capability was amazing for its low price and its native speed meets the minimum requirements for gaming. The Vengeance LPX 2666 outdid its 3000 MH/z competition which is surprising for its low price of $189.99 for 2×8 GB Sticks. The Vengeance LPX performed amazing in most games like Battlefield 1 and had a higher rating than its competitive counterparts which could be due to its lower timing and CAS Latency.

“Our Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666 16GB quad-channel kit provides better overclocking at a lower-price than its “value-priced” DDR4-3000 competition.”-TomsHardware
“the Corsair Vengeance LPX 2666MHz kit of RAM is a solid offering into the new world of DDR4.”-play3r
Note:  This review is part of a classroom project.
References:
https://play3r.net/reviews
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews
http://www.corsair.com/en-us#
https://www.passmark.com/
 
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AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Review

CPU reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[Image result for ryzen 1800x

This is a review on the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X CPU manufactured by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and its capabilities for gaming computers and overall performance. AMD has been suffering for the past couple of decades trying to keep up with Intel since their first CPU was introduced in 1991. There is no doubt that Intel has released superior CPU’s compared to most of AMD’s, but now Intel has met their match. AMD has managed to dig themselves out of a hole with the new introduction of the Ryzen series that was made to combat the Skylake, and Kaby Lake Processors from Intel, and I have to say… it has done a very good job at it. The 1800X is the top of the line in the Ryzen series and its performance is amazing, for a much smaller price than most of Intel’s expensive, mediocre processors. Its the CPU that will destroy graphics, and not your game.

 
Image result for amd headquartersAMD was founded in 1969 and their headquarters is located in Sunnyvale California. They didn’t get into the CPU  business until 1991 with their AM386 processors. (Wikipedia) AMD has come along way with their architecture and their computing capabilities, but they have always been reasonable on prices which makes AMD perfect for budget worried PC fanatics. I found the 1800X on Toms Hardware and decided to test it myself. I was blown away by the performance of the chip giving the same; if not higher, frame rate and graphics quality. The new Zen architecture makes the Ryzen series exchange blows with Intels I-5s and I-7s. The 1800X can be found on Newegg for $499.99.
Ryzen 7 1800X Specs:Image result for ryzen 7 1800x
 

  • Socket :AM4
  • Operating Frequency: 3.6 GHz (4.0 GHz O.C)
  •  L3 Cache: 16 MB
  •  L2 Cache: 4MB
  • L1 Cache: 768KB
  • DDR4 Support
  • Unlocked Processor
  • Thermal Design Power 95W
  • # Cores: 8
  • # of Threads: 16

Ryzen Has really made a great comeback with the Ryzen Chips, and have made themselves a superpower to fear by Intel now. The Ryzen chips are cheaper than their Intel counterparts and even out performs them in a lot of areas. The Ryzen 1800X has overclocking capabilities, and its multiple cores allow for easy multitasking and multiple threading.  The Ryzen 1800X is the best price for its performance and is overall is great in any PC build. The Overall Benchmark of the 1800X on Passmark is 15421.  (the highest CPU Mark is 27428 and the lowest is 79).
Here are some reviews of the 1800X:
 

  • Toms Hardware: “Ryzen 7 does deliver”
  •  TechPowerUp: “It brings the company back to competitiveness against behemoth Intel”
  • TechRadar: ” absolutely decimating the competition when it comes to price versus performance.”

Note:  This review is part of a classroom project.
References:

  • https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_7_1800X/16.html
  • https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Ryzen+7+1800X
  • https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113430
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Micro_Devices
  • http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-cpu,4951.html
  • https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-7-1800x
  • http://www.techradar.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-7-1800x/3

 
 
 
 
 
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GIGABYTE GA-AB350-GAMING 3 Review: Good Gaming Motherboard?

Motherboard reviews, NT IT Reviews

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I would like to introduce you to the Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 that is used for high end gaming. The GA-AB350 is made for most AMD CPU’s with an AM4 socket that is compatible with Ryzen and 7th Generation A-Series/Athlon processors. This motherboard costs $109.99 On newegg (Prices change) and is overall a good price for the performance and architecture of the board. Its sleek yet simple design could fool anybody in believing  its quality and cost effectiveness. The low failure rate make it the perfect motherboard for all around Gamers.
The GA-AB350 comes in an ATX form factor and is 30.5cm x 23.0cm allowing it to fit in most medium sized cases. Its produced by the Taiwanese company Gigabyte who are located in Taipei Taiwan and are known for their high quality motherboards with over 30 Million motherboards sold and having a failure rate of only 2.5% versus ASUS who has a 3.1% fail rate. Gigabyte is worth more than 1.7 billion dollars since it was found in 1986 and has made many other performance worthy motherboards for home desktops and gaming rigs.

 
Specifications:

  • Chipset AMD B350
  • Form factor ATX
  • Motherboard Speed: 2933MHz
  • CPU support AMD Socket AM4 (Ryzen)
  • Memory support Dual-channel, 4 x 288 Pin, DDR4max 64GB
  • Sound 8-channel Realtek ALC1220 Codec
  • Networking Realtek Gigabit Ethernet
  • Ports 1 x M.2 PCI-E 3.0 x4 32Gbps/SATA 6Gbps (up to 22110), 6 x SATA 6Gbps, 2 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 6 x USB 3.0), 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x LAN, audio out, line in, mic, HDMI 1.4, DVI-D
  • Dimensions (cm) 30.5 x 23
  • Extras: RGB LED extension cable, isolated audio circuitry, steel-plated PCI-E slots
  • PCI Slots: 2 x PCI Express x1 slots, 1 x PCI Express 16x 3.0 Slot, 1 x PCI Express 16x 2.0 Slot, 1 x PCIe4x Slot

 
Gigabyte AB350-Gaming 3 Review
The GA-AB350 has a ranking of 4 eggs on newegg and has almost over 160 reviews. Many other hardware websites like bit-tech and even earning a 9/10 on Kit-Guru. Its one of the first chipsets in its class and has been proven to handle stability issues with the new Ryzen CPU’s since its release. There has been many chipset updates since then that can further improve the GA-AB350 and it its been built with high quality components that it will last.  (Bit-tech) The only real con of the motherboard is the M.2 slot is somewhat close to the PCI slots so plan ahead when inserting a graphics card.
The GA-AB350 is overall a good motherboard between its high performance, quality stability with AMD CPU’s and best of all its price for all of these features. It’s RGB and dual BIOS offer anybody great custom ability and its a good motherboard. It doesn’t come without its cons but there a very few that outweigh the many good things about this motherboard.
Note: This review is part of a classroom project.
https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/gigabyte-ab350-gaming-3-review/1/
http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350-Gaming-3-rev-10#kf
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128991
https://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/gigabyte_ga_ab350_gaming_3_review,2.html]]>